Seeing as we are past the half way point of 2006. I thought it'd be fun to do one of these "Mid Year Awards" deals the kids today seem to enjoy. Well, that and I'm pretty bored right now and feel like writing something. So here are some of my Mid-year picks with short explainations.

Wrestler of the half-year: El Generico

If consistency still counts for anything anymore, El Generico is the clear choice. No one in PWG has had a better batting average. No matter who he happened to face, you could always count on Generico to deliver a standout performance. Very deserving of the title "PWG MVP"

2nd place: Hard to say... it could go any number of different guys.

Tag Team Of The Half-Year:Super Dragon and Davey RichardsNo contest here. From January through May, Dragon and Davey were unquestionably PWG's top attraction. Routinely tearing down the house with whomever had the misfortune of crossing them. Producing memorable match after memorable match. Their outings with Cape Fear, Arrogance, Strong/Evans and others have to rank among PWG's all time best.

2nd Place: Cape Fear. Who like SD/DR have had an amazing run against a wide array of opposition. I'd look for them to be the PWG tag team of the year for 2006 when all is said and done.

When PWG announced that Strong/Evans would team at "Astonishing X-Mas" My first thought was "How insane it would it be they ever faced Super Dragon/Davey?" It instantly became my #1 PWG match dream match. Then after dissapointing me by announcing SD/DR Vs. AJ/Daniels 67 times instead. On March 4th, PWG finally gave us this long awaited match. To no one's surprise, it lived up to the hype and more. The teams blended perfectly, and produced one of the most aw inspiring US indy matches I've ever seen. With SD/DR bringing their usual tag team excellence, Strong being a freaking beast, and Jack Evans pulling off his usual unbelievable high flying. All this combined with a great crowd atmosphere made this one of the greatest PWG matches to date. Be sure to pick this show up on DVD, the ending has to be seen to be believed.

2nd place: Also tough to say, as PWG has had many standout matches in the last 6 months. But I'll go with Cape Fear Vs. Arrogance - Beyond The Thunderdome or Matt Sydal Vs. Roderick Strong - ASW3 (Funny, Strong's only two PWG matches in 06 were two of my favorites. Hope the TJ match at the 3-year match follows that tradition)

Show Of The Half-Year:"Enchantment Under The Sea"

A really loaded show with a super fun Scorpio Sky Vs. Human Tornado match (SLAM DUNK RANA!), The Mega Powers Explode as Kevin Hogan fought Macho Aries, Joey Ryan uses every trick in the book to try to get past Chris Sabin. The long awaited return of The Briscoes, who have an incredible match with Cape Fear, American Dragon vs Claudio Castagnoli featuring the head lock of death! B-Boy laying a Prison Grade ass kicking on Matt Sydal. SD/Davey Vs. Arrogance, where SD/Davey's reign of terror finally met it's end, and PWG witnessed the birth of the Dynasty. Who proceed to destory Super Dragon in a truly brutal fashion. A must see show. Buy it twice!

2nd choice would be All Star Weekend 3: Night 2 which had perhaps the best back to back to back series of matches ever in PWG with the 4-way, Strong Vs. Sydal and Joey Ryan Vs. Necro Butcher. The 2nd half was a little awkward live, due to having to following the already mentioned matches. Which keeps me from picking this over "Enchantment..."

Reason: I just didn't like his match with Reyes in Germany at all...and can't think of another choice. Well, I suppose Dmitri Maskarsky didn't exactly set the world on fire either. Which is I guess is a good thing, as you'd probably get jail time for setting the world on fire.

Breakout Star of the half-year:Alex Koslov

Koslov's been a guy who's really come on strong in the last 6 months, and always gets a good reaction from the fans. He's really shined in matches with Colt Cabana, TJ Perkins, Top Gun, and the last couple tags with Ronin. I'd say he has real bright rest of the year ahead of him in PWG as well.

Newcomer of the half-year:Matt Sydal

Sydal really won the PWG fans over with this three gutsy performances so far in PWG. Where he showed alot of moxie despite having the ever loving crap kicked out of him. The Roderick Strong match in particularly was an ideal showcase of Sydal's talents.

2nd place: Bino Gambino: Though he's still not fully over with the PWG fanbase. I think Bino's done well for himself, and I've enjoyed his PWG outings. Always shows a great deal of spirit in his matches, which you don't often see.

Moment of the year:Necro Butcher's debut at ASW3.

Genuine surprises are harder to find in wrestling today than a good show is on the WB (looking at you "Pepper Dennis"!) Just about everything in wrestling is either very predictable, leaked beforehand or a big letdown (often times all three). So when PWG announced that Joey Ryan would be facing a mystery man at ASW3. Pretty much every possible name ran through our heads... but no one really had an idea.

So when Necro Butcher (who no one ever expected to appear in a fed like PWG) came charging through the front door. The place erupted in a "Necro" chant as Dino had brought in wrestling's most infamous brawler to murder on PWG's most hated man. So not only was it an actual surprise, but it made perfect sense from a storyline prespective. Neat huh?

2nd Place: The Dynasty Forms - Enchantment Under The Sea: Another great surprising moment. Seemed like PWG's response to several nagging criticisms, and a much needed shot in the arm for the promotion.

Please Come Back Awards: Like to see Fergal Devitt back if he's ever available. Alex Shelley needs to be in PWG more also. Oh, SPUD too! That guy is great (probably alone on that one) Also like to see Ryan Drago and Charles Mercury return one day.

Three picks, I know, but I have my reasons. First, Joey has been putting on very solid matches and has been doing a great job at getting heel heat. My only problem with him though is that the moustache gimmick is getting lame for me. It went from being a funny idea to a cheesy overused catchphrase by some fans. Same can be said about the abs stuff with Scorpio Sky(don't get me wrong, I enjoy their work but things like these get old after awhile when dudes with beer guts start saying "LOOK AT MY ABS" on their myspace pages and message boards). B-Boy has been putting on many tremendous matches since his comeback, and his quest for the PWG World Title has been so much fun to watch. El Generico, well he has awesome matches. Not much more needs to be said.

Tag Team Of The Half-Year:Super Dragon and Davey Richards

Best team in wrestling right now, and probably the best team to come along in many, many years. Plus they have great matches and they fuck shit up and drop dudes on their heads and kill people. That's what I want to see in a tag team. Two dudes who work well together and put on awesome matches and destroy people's faces.

Pre-order this shit on the main page. NOW! Seriously. Best match in PWG history in my mind, and best match I've seen all year(this counting the Dragon Gate 6 Man in ROH and Finlay/Mysterio earlier this year). Arrogance/Cape Fear from Beyond The Thunderdome was also rad as fuck and so was Cape Fear/Los Luchas.

Show Of The Half-Year:No Clue

Honestly, it's a toss up right now. Cruisin' For A Bruisin' was an awesome show and I still watch it atleast once a week. All Star Weekend 3: Night 2 was also really amazing. I can't pick between those two.

Don't Come Back Award:Baron Von Hagen/Samoa Joe

I'm glad Baron is stuck in Germany, which pretty much means he'll never be back in PWG unless he gets used on another PWG Euro show if they ever go back(which I hope never happens since Baron sucked). I picked Joe because of his no showing three events. It was pretty shitty of him, and I wouldn't want to see him back.

I'm too tired to write more, but those are my general feelings on the main awards.

Wrestler of the Half-Year: El Generico Basically for the same reasons stated by TD98, as time in and time out he's had one of the top matches on the show. Generico just enhances every single match he's in, and I honestly believe he's one of the top overall wrestlers in North America right now.

Runner Up: Frankie Kazarian -
Has been on an absolute tear since returning to PWG...his match with Scott Lost at CSTC2 was amazing (as it was literally booked DURING the show) and a testament to both guys' talents, and his match at Globetrotters with B-Boy has been very slept on, but was tremendous with a ton of heat. His 4way match at Crazymania Night 2 was also an incredibly well-done spotfest that kicked off a great sequence of matches.

Match of the Half-Year: Roderick Strong/Jack Evans vs. Super Dragon/Davey Richards One of the most beautiful wrestling matches I have ever seen, that's all I need to really say about it.

Runner-up: Roderick Strong vs. Matt Sydal Funny how both my #1 and #2 matches both involve Strong, but he really has gotten THAT good. He absolutely beats the shit out of Sydal here, and Sydal made some amazing come backs. Here's when you know a match has gotten over. Night 1 of Crazymania, Sydal had sold ZERO shirts. Once this match ended, all of Sydal's shirts were gone.

Breakout Star of the Half-Year: Alex Koslov The clear choice here...Koslov is simply too good to be denied, and by '07 will be a reliable uppercarder for PWG. He just needs some BIG WINS, maaan.

Moment of the Half-Year: Necro debuts at Crazymania I believe my exact reaction to this was jumping up and going "HOLY FUCKING SHIT, IT'S THE NECRO BUTCHER!"

Show of the Half-Year: Hollywood Globetrotters Besides the Em Oh Tee Why See main event, it had a great back-and-forth match between Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley, a fun-as-hell Frankie/B-Boy match, and Alex Koslov beating the shit out of a blowup doll. What more could you want?

Runner-Up: Crazymania Night 2 The 1-2-3 punch of the Kazarian/B-Boy/Sabin/Steen 4way, Strong vs. Sydal, and Necro is still the best markout rollercoaster I've ever experienced in my long history of wrestling-watching. Sky/Hero was also a really solid match with fun heel stuff from Scorpio. If M-Dogg/Jimmy Yang hadn't been the complete opposite of what fans were expecting and Lost/Claudio/TJ hadn't been so...WEIRD this might have been one of the best PWG shows ever.

Newcomer of the Half-Year: Matt Sydal A true asset to any promotion that books him, Sydal is one of the best flyers in the US and due to be a breakout national star very soon. Has already had one of the best PWG matches of the year.

Runner-Up: Bino Gambino A guy initially brought in to be Generic Wacky TopGun Partner #32a for the TopGun Opening Comedy Tag, Bino has really shown a ton of fire and skill in his run with PWG. He hasn't appeared on recent shows, but I hope his roster spot is still secure- because I think Bino has the potential to go way farther in PWG than anyone initially expected.

Tag Team of the Year: Like You Really Don't Know the Answer to this One

He's looked just stellar every time out -- crisp, explosive and smooth. It seems like Los Luchas are again out of favor for no-showing the O.C. show; I don't miss the increasingly sloppy Zokre much, but I always looked forward to seeing Phoenix on cards. He'd be great as an undercard singles guy in the mix with T.J., Koslov and those guys...